A Life's Adjustment
by Kare Uta
Summary: In the middle of making whole adjustments to their lives after Toshima it doesn't take very long for a part of Toshima to come...crawling to their door. Twoshot.
1. Chapter 1

**A Life's Adjustment**

It was more than just a little curiosity at Rin's condition that caused Akira to glance into the back seat frequently. He'd been in the hospital a few days since the amputation of his leg and he seemed far too…at peace with it for Akira's comfort. Motomi constantly had nudged Akira in the ribs, glaring at him and telling him not to cause trouble where there was none.

Motomi stopped the car in front of Akira's place, getting out and glaring at Akira for showing off, climbing promptly over the closed door of his jeep. "Need help?" Akira asked Rin, having pulled the seat forward.

Rin was the second sender of glares; the only time he had looked upset in recent days was when he was sick from pain medication and when he was getting frustrated with Akira's worries. He picked up the crutches and got out of the car by himself; and Akira was silently impressed at how quickly he had managed to pick it up after he had been so bad at using them just the day before.

"There's a lot of stairs," Akira pointed out, trying to sound casual about it.

"I lost my leg, not my sight." Rin huffed, making his way over to Motomi.

The older man took to the steps first, staying in front of Rin and climbing a bit at a time as he went along; Akira walked behind him just in case he took a tumble, and just so that Rin couldn't see the worry in his eyes. Honestly, it was beginning to bother Motomi.

When they got to the top and Motomi and Akira looked in the direction of his apartment; squinting, they saw something huddled on the ground in the distance, gloved fingers scratching lightly at the door persistently. Akira approached cautiously, his fingers gripping the hilt of his blade behind his back. As he got closer the thing looked over at him; though looked was perhaps inaccurate as the eyes were covered thoroughly.

Akira breathed a sigh of some relief; it could've been worse. "What the hell are you doing here?" he hissed. Naturally, he wasn't expecting an answer. He unlocked the door and before he could say or do anything the curled up human shuffled inside on all fours, in quite a rush.

Rin and Motomi got inside, both staring at Akira. "How did he find this place?" Rin asked.

Motomi pointed at a group of tags hanging from a desk lamp, "That's probably it."

Akira kept an eye on the human dog; it had crawled up to a heater in the corner of the room, ghosting his fingers lightly in the invisible hot area. "What's his name again?" Akira asked.

"Kau." Motomi replied, pulling a chair up for Rin to seat himself on.

Just as Motomi stepped closer he heard and felt a sticky substance beneath his foot, noting the dark red sticky stain on the floor. He glanced at Rin, "Are you bleeding?"

Rin shook his head a little.

Motomi grunted in realization, "It's coming from the mutt over there."

Akira glanced at the dog, finding him curled on the ground by the fire; now sound asleep, noticeable by his stomach and chest rising and falling heavily with a slight wheezing sound.

Motomi butted out his cigarette under a tap of running water, "Get the first aid kit."

The room had gone just about silent; Rin reclined back in his seat, trying to adjust and take in the new surroundings. He'd never seen the inside of Akira's apartment before, actually this was his first time in years outside of Toshima, and for a while all he had seen was the inside of the hospital, but he believed the simplicity of it suited him very much. He watched Motomi roll up his sleeves to just above his elbows, taking the first aid kit from Akira.

"Help me." Motomi mumbled to Akira, approaching Kau slowly.

Akira seemed visibly apprehensive, nonetheless he approached Kau also.

Rather than having fallen asleep the assumption was that Kau had fainted; he twitched occasionally as Motomi had rolled him over onto his back. Just above the waistband of his trousers, between his hip bone and one of the large piercings, was a rather deep laceration; something transparent and sharp poked out of it. "Glass?"

"Must have happened in Toshima," Motomi indicated for Akira to pin his hands down while he held a thick amount of cloth close to the wound, gripping the glass tightly between two fingers. He shared a quick glance with the man across from him, once he nodded firmly in understanding and braced himself Motomi pulled on the piece of glass, quickly replacing it with the cloth to catch the increased flow of blood.

The dog's mouth had opened widely; an obvious scream that wouldn't be able to be emitted no matter how powerful the emotions were that fuelled it.

"It's bleeding a lot more." Akira mumbled.

"You should've left it in and taken him to a hospital."

"Because nobody would ask questions about the state he's in." Motomi commented sarcastically, placing a thicker layer of cloth over the wound.

Akira took a short moment to look the man up and down; he was mottled with bruises and who knew what was under the clothes? His hair was wet, sticking to his face, and his expression was so worn out he began to wonder the boy's real age. "He looks like he's been outside a while."

"Not something Arbitro would do."

Rin jumped a little, "You think he ran away?"

"I think Kau is smarter than that."

"Or stupider than that."

"Well if he managed you've got to give him credit for that." Motomi had his hands full holding the cloth down, all material stained red all the way through. Much to his relief the bleeding had slowed down, just as he was beginning to kick himself for taking the glass out. He padded the wound up with bandages and he allowed Akira to let go of him, the dog curling in on himself.

"Hopefully he won't pick at it."

"When he wakes up we'll toss him in for a shower."

"What are we doing? Keeping him?"

Rin seemed shocked, "What do you want to do? Throw him out?"

Akira looked at Motomi, "You keep him."

"He came up to _your_ door; it's you he wants." Motomi chuckled.

"But…"

"I'm going to buy cigarettes," Motomi quipped, interrupting purposely, "you need anything?" he asked, turning to Rin.

"No thanks." Rin grinned largely and playfully.

Akira dropped himself back on the bed; visibly a little wary of the form curled up on the floor in front of the heater.

"Don't you have a blanket or something?"

"You need one?"

"I mean for him."

"Right," Akira scrambled back off the bed and tried to remember where he kept extra blankets; even when he had told Rin that he could stay with him he hadn't thought things through. Time in Toshima had really played around with his head. He draped a skimpy blanket over Kau, and then proceeded to pile up all the blankets and pillows he had; it wasn't much, or nearly enough for the sudden guests.

"Are you sure it's okay if I stay here?"

"Yes."

"Thanks again, Akira."

"Thanks for what?" He sighed; Rin was unable to tell if he was frustrated with him, or by the mess of clothes he was clearing from the foot of the bed.

"For not breaking your promise."

Akira looked up promptly, locking eye contact and willing Rin not to look away, "I told you I wouldn't and I don't ever plan on going back on it."

Rin smiled cheerfully, wrapping his arms around his stomach as his chest filled with warmth.

Akira glanced over at Kau, watching him kick in his sleep, "You think he's alright?"

"Are you worried now?"

"Well I don't want him dying over there."

Rin smiled faintly; secretly, he knew that Akira really wasn't frustrated at the dog.

"He looks like he's been running around in circles; completely worn out."

"If he's been alone this whole time then that's probably it; how can you fend for yourself when you're crawling around, can't ask for freakin' directions and too blind to go anywhere even if you got them?"

"You think it's true what they say? That he can smell the tags?"

"Must be true if the old man agrees with it."

"Yeah,"

Motomi barged in soon enough, cigarette hanging from his lips. "How are things?" He dumped a bag on the kitchen counter and made his way over to Kau, pulling his face over to take a look at him before touching his forehead. "Akira, he's really warm."

"There are antipyretics in the bathroom cupboard if you want to try giving him one." Akira said.

Motomi stood with a groan, "Give it to him with dinner."

"Dinner?" Akira…couldn't say he was surprised; he was absent-minded. "What does he eat?"

"Knowing Arbitro; dog food." Rin sighed.

"You'll have to make him something," Motomi chuckled, throwing an arm around Akira's shoulders, "and probably feed it to him too."

"You'll do it!"

"I've got somewhere to be." Motomi let go of him, putting the cigarette back to his lips, "so it's up to you to feed him and bathe him and…walk him."

"Hey, didn't you say _we'll _toss him into the shower later?"

"Ahh but it's your door he crawled up to so doesn't that make him your responsibility?"

"How is that fair?"

Motomi continued to chuckle all the way to the door, "I'll pass by tomorrow."

Akira's eyes remained wide open.

Rin's loud cheerful laughter pulled him out of it, "The old man just loves screwing with you, ne, Akira?"

"To say the least." Akira dragged himself up to his fridge; everyday he wasn't sure what he himself would be eating that night, and feeding Rin and the dog was a whole new worry on its own. "What are we going to eat?"

"I'll eat anything! Anything is better than hospital food."

"I'll bet it is."

He began frying vegetables and chicken in a pan, leaving some noodles to boil close by. "Hey, Rin," he looked out from the small hallway the kitchen was in, looking over at Rin sitting back in the chair. "You're alright, aren't you?"

Rin grinned, nodding firmly.

"You're quiet…"

"I'm tired; that's all it is."

"You can get on the bed to rest if you want."

Rin smiled lightly, "If I went to sleep I don't think I'd wake up for a while."

Akira wouldn't blame him in the slightest if that would happen; he was sure that that would be the way he would feel too. A lot of Rin's strength and resolve had begun dissipating once his medication started making him sick; sleeping at night was impossible, rest during the daytime couldn't happen, and learning to walk again in this state was strenuous to do on no sleep. Yes, Akira could agree, he would definitely feel the same way after all that.

Akira went back to cooking, trying to get the meal prepared before Rin could doze off or have too much time to think by himself.

"Akira." Rin called him back after a few minutes. His eyes were on Kau who had sat up, teeth grit together tightly as he clutched at his wound and touched his face lightly. He had jumped slightly when Akira could be heard entering and Kau quickly crawled up to him, grabbing tightly onto the leg of his pants which he used to pull himself up as high as Akira's torso.

It terrified Akira to look down at the state of the human like that; he had no idea what sort of expression the eyes behind the mask would have if he could actually see them.

He took his arm lightly, bringing him to let go of his clothing, "Sit down," he groaned out that order lightly, and was surprised how quickly he obeyed such simple words. He reached down to check his temperature, feeling the burning skin beneath his hand.

"He looks really flushed, Akira," Rin whispered.

"Yeah," He stood up straight and returned to the kitchen, "I'll give him the antipyretic with dinner." He took the dinner off the cooker and made three servings.

Rin leaned over, "Kau…" he called quietly, "Kau…" He smiled lightly as Kau came crawling over, resting his head against Rin's knee.

Akira put the tray of food on the bed; the best he could make a flat surface close to where they were.

Rin tilted his head to the side, seeing how nervous Akira was touching Kau, and the apprehension he must have felt to try to feed someone that actually looked as fragile as he was. "Want me to feed him, Akira?"

"You have dinner; I'll do it." Even while saying that Akira had no idea how he was going to feed Kau noodles, vegetables and chicken. Instead of using chopsticks he resorted to a fork and once he brought some of the food close to Kau's face he opened his mouth keenly once he smelt it. Once he got into it he found it pretty easy to feed him; Kau must have been starving so he was eager to eat which made things easier.

"It tastes really good." Rin complimented half way through. He looked up again from his food and found Akira looking around a bit, "What's wrong?"

"Wondering how I'm going to give him this." He held up the film of pills before tossing it back down on the tray. "I don't really trust him to swallow it with water."

"Well if he was with Arbitro he…"

"Rin!" Akira groaned loudly, his face twisted in distaste. "That's…disgusting."

Kau seemed pouty for a moment and with a glance from Rin Akira had deduced that the dog could understand their speech perfectly. Akira stood, and in the meantime Rin reached out to touch Kau, stopping once he tried to smell Rin's hands. Rin sensed Kau was fascinated by the smell; the blond knew he still had the stink of the hospital on his skin and in his clothes.

Akira returned, much to Kau's enthusiasm, with two spoons which helped him crush the pills over some of the food.

Kau felt the flaky substance on the back of his throat with the next bite of food and coughed heavily, having not expected it. At that moment Akira decided the pills probably would've sat better in a soup, but figured that would be a lesson for another time. He pressed the glass of water to his lips and was surprised by the eagerness at which Kau gripped his hands on both sides of the glass and gulped the cool liquid down.

Rin laughed, "He's so cute." Having come to the end of the glass, Kau turned to Rin after hearing him speak, and Rin reached out to push his hair away from his flushed face. He began to keep the dog busy for a bit while Akira ate his food before it turned ice cold. "You know you're going to have to give him a bath, right?"

Akira groaned loudly in between a bite of food, glaring at the other, "Don't remind me."

"You must be exhausted." Rin told Kau, affectionately touching the top of his head, massaging one of his temples.

Akira took things to clear up before turning to Rin, "You want to go shower first so you can go sleep?"

"I'll stay up a bit longer." He picked up his crutches and made his way over to Akira, "I'll do the dishes though."

"I'll get to them later."

"I really want to do them."

Akira through his hands up with defeat and indicated to Rin to just go ahead; in the meantime he tried to guide Kau to the bathroom without letting his swaying body bump into anything.

Akira began to wonder if the dog was capable of undressing himself but the more he wanted to get this over the more he decided it was best if he tackled everything himself. So kneeling down he began to remove the buckle that was firm and almost constricting around Kau's neck; once that was off it put the entire scar on display, as well as having loosened the rest of the outfit as the sleeves and gloves easily followed.

He switched on the hot water to fill the tub, hot steam beginning to rise as he turned back to Kau to remove the boots and trousers; how he was ever comfortable in this get up Akira was never sure.

He reached around to the back of his hair, searching with his finger tips for the clasp on the back of his mask. Kau seemed apprehensive, his chest rose and fell heavily and his breaths came out in wheezy gasps. Akira let go and pulled back a bit, suspecting that he was about to vomit.

Kau continued to breathe fast but after pressing his hands to where his eyes were under the mask he seemed to calm down slowly.

Akira reached over again, touching the clasps; and again, Kau reacted the same way. Akira sighed, "You don't like it when it's off," he said out loud, showing Kau he understood, "but I need to remove it; if you get sick no one will be able to help you."

Kau eventually let go and let Akira take the mask off and the sight almost made him wish he didn't. The boy's eye lids were sewn shut completely by thick black thread. The lids could flutter with some movement very vaguely as they did once the cold air touched the raw skin but that was about all they were capable of doing.

It felt awkward to Akira to be doing this but chewing on his lip a bit he pulled Kau up enough to get him into the bath of hot water. He set him down slowly, lightly but Kau seemed to be looking forward to the feeling and let himself land suddenly in the water with a sudden splash.

Akira wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or scold him, but once Kau seemed content sitting in the water, his head tilted up in his direction, there was no way that he could scold him. "Wait there, okay? I'll be back in two minutes!"

He left to get some clean clothes, having kicked the other outfit into a corner. Rin looked over at him quickly; he had moved to sit by the window in the meantime, "Is everything alright?"

"I think he's enjoying the idea of a bath."

"I'm sure he'll feel better."

Akira approached Rin in his rush, putting a hand to his back, "You're alright?"

"I'm fine, Akira." Rin feigned another smile and nodded his head, determined to keep the lying going up until the very end.

Even if he didn't quite believe it Akira nodded back and walked away with the bundle of clothing and the first aid kit. In the bathroom he found Kau curled up on his side, holding the fluffy bandaging on his side together against his skin. If the bath water hadn't turned red yet Akira felt like there was no need to rush him back out of the bath.

Akira pulled him to sit up right; noting the light wince on his face. He wanted to apologize but left it alone, taking him by the shoulder and turning him around a little. It was clearly awkward to sit on his side in the bath, having to press one leg against the side and the other leg tucked under him, but he was clearly no stranger to the discomfort as he didn't seem to complain at all. Akira's fingers touched his face lightly; he wasn't bothering with a washcloth at the time, wiping at any grime on his face. Across his cheeks, over the bridge of his nose, across his forehead, under his neck; everywhere, while considerably avoiding his tender eyelids. He tilted Kau's head back, scooping some water up into his hand and pouring it over his face.

Akira poured some shampoo onto his hand and began scrubbing lightly at his hair, going through the messy hair in an attempt to untangle it, massaging his scalp lightly and having felt the bumps and tender spots. He poured warm water over his head and Kau began to smile widely, feeling comfortable for a bit.

He spread a towel across the ground and patted the side of the bath, "Get out." Kau scurried out of the bath and let himself sit on the towel, resting his back against the bath. He passed Kau some underwear and trousers but Kau simply fumbled with them; leaving Akira to pull them on for him also, despite the itchy red burning into his cheeks. He pulled him to lie down, pealing the paper off the adhesive of the clean and dry bandaging and applying it carefully.

He tossed a clean t-shirt at him, causing Kau to jump. "Put that on and then you can go to sleep." He noted the state of the other, his exhaustion was beginning to be far too much for him to control. Again, Kau began to fidget with it and Akira was forced to help him once more, and after not considering even trusting him to walk out of the room without banging into something, he effortlessly picked him up into his arms; much to Kau's immediate shock.

"Is he okay?"

Akira placed him down lightly on the bed, sighing as he also began to grow tired. "Yeah, he's very tired."

"He's still burning a fever."

Akira ignored Rin's worries momentarily, "You can go clean yourself up; don't stay awake much longer."

Rin nodded a bit but he still felt like he really wasn't being listened to as much anymore. He left for the bathroom, hoping desperately that by some sort of miracle Akira would be asleep by the time he came out.

Akira draped a sleeping bag onto the floor; he felt a little nostalgic as he stared at it. Keisuke was the last person to have used it when he crashed on his floor one night.

Shaking the memories, the sweet kind and painful memories, out of his head, he turned back to Kau to pluck him off his bed, tuck him into the bag, despite the lean form curling into a ball immediately, and placing a blanket over him near the heater.

Changing for bed simply became a more difficult task to do; he was constantly stepping over Kau, or any other things that he had moved around in trying to make room for the guests. It only bothered him because it seemed like he was making Kau wake up every time; his hearing was too accurate.

"Which side of the bed?" He asked offhandedly when Rin returned.

"Can I take the edge?"

"Sure." Rin rested tiredly against his crutches, sitting down at the foot of the bed. "Did you take your medicine yet?"

"Not yet."

Rin's responses were coming out promptly but they sounded so drained to Akira's ears. With Motomi having glared at him every single time he had begun to feel that something might be wrong with him, and with the sudden responsibility he had been given in the past few hours, Akira hadn't had enough time to focus on Rin. "You're alright, Rin?"

The blond smiled again, though his eyes may have shown something else if they weren't covered with long strands of hair, "You don't need to keep asking; I'm just tired."

Even if it was just something as simple as that, Akira was still unnerved when he saw him like this.

**A/N: So it was supposed to be a oneshot but...it'll be a two shot...at least a two shot. There's at least...six pages to go! **

**For this I had a lot of inspiration in total, although I had the idea from beforehand; the inspiration was of Star (a dog that someone cruelly abused here) and my job as a nurse's assistant. I really felt myself tapping into my experience as the latter to write this.**

**Well I hope you enjoyed it up until this point. A little itty-bitty review to let me know what you think would be great! **


	2. Chapter 2

For someone in his position waking up didn't mean opening his eyes and seeing the bright light shining in through. He was far more simple than that. Or far more complicated than that too.

Instead of opening his eyes he opened up some other senses; his sense of smell and his sense of taste. Instead of seeing the bright light shining through he felt it on his skin.

His body was sticky and warm, but it felt different to usual; his clothing didn't accumulate the heat in the same way it usually did. It felt softer to his skin also. Even though he felt warm his legs received a particular amount of heat; something strong had spread along them.

He found himself stretching his arms and legs, reaching out of the warm confines for some cooler air. By the smell in the air he noted that the tags were now missing but he wasn't alone. The person who had fed him and bathed him the night before was clearly absent but the sounds in the room pointed out to him that someone was still there.

Soft and quiet mewls resonated through the room; coming from above him to his right. He untangled himself from the warm bag and crawled quietly closer to the sound. If it was because of the thick air he wasn't sure but breathing became more difficult than he could remember. He got up onto his knees, resting his hands on the thick mattress.

They were vague little sounds he remembered from somewhere.

A time very far back…he remembered making those same sounds in a cold room but even if he tried hard enough to go back and trace the feelings he had at that time he had no idea what he'd find.

As he crawled up onto the bed, a little wary as he was never allowed to climb places unless Master said so, he felt around with bare finger tips and pulled back once they touched a warm body.

It was Rin; the affectionate person who had touched him so gently the night before. Contrary to how he was last night, today he seemed to be acting like he was all alone and paid no attention to him, even when he fell to lie down beside him.

There was a time when his Master made these same sounds. He had been surprised when he heard them; he had wondered what had caused his Master to feel so sad that he would break into tears.

He did not know this person here; he didn't know what to expect, or what to do.

He would have liked to think there was no way to handle it because if there was then he didn't know it.

He still remembered Master's ringed fingers hit him in the face with the punch he gave him when he had first cried. It hurt more than whatever it was he was crying about in the first place.

He petted the arm of the other lightly, even through the sudden hiccups, and used his other hand to feel his way around to get closer. If he could open his mouth and say something what could he say?

Maybe the reason he couldn't say anything was because a dog wasn't supposed to. Maybe Master thought he was most appropriate when he couldn't speak.

He crawled a little closer, pressing his cheek to the other's damp one, caressing his ear gently before licking his cheek quickly. The tears had a salty taste to them, they were warm and there were plenty of them dripping down all the way to his jawbone.

Rin stopped sobbing and laughed lightly instead, "What are you doing?" He wanted to answer; just to tell him that all he wanted to do was make him feel better for what he did for him the other day. He couldn't though; not without licking his cheek again lightly. Rin smiled a bit more and Kau felt his back being patted lightly.

Why had the roles been reversed so suddenly? How? What had he done?

He felt the form in front of him sit up on, patting his side, "You're so cute, Kau." He'd been called that a lot only very recently. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. Master never called him cute and he was told to only listen to what Master said. Rin sat up completely but Kau weakly fell back to rest his head on a pillow, "I think you're still sick, Kau." He said softly, his cold hand touching his cheek.

He wasn't sure but was this what being sick felt like? It felt…stuffy.

But it didn't bother him enough to pay attention to it, but he didn't have the strength to do what he wanted either; he just wanted to pounce on the other and ask if he was really feeling better. But how could he express that with a stranger when he had no words? This person didn't understand him, never could. He grabbed onto a piece of material between his two fingers and tugged at it lightly for some attention.

Rin lay down next to him again, "My leg shouldn't hurt." He commented quietly, a defeated whisper. "Somehow it does anyway… They said it would hurt but…I don't understand it either…" He heard him lightly laugh, "I guess you won't understand exactly…"

Did it show on his face? He really didn't understand…

"They removed my leg but…maybe you understand the feeling…"

He hadn't really realized. It had been the other man that he held tightly onto the night before, but this one had been sitting the whole time so there was no reason to get too close.

He could vaguely remember adjusting to his new lifestyle; it was a difficult memory to handle, something that he had buried long ago. Never being allowed to question Master meant that having those thoughts to begin with were futile.

Kau smiled playfully. He was okay with it now so the other could be too eventually, right? He threw his arms around his neck and pressing his cheek to his.

"For someone who's so sick you woke up so cheerful."

Rin laughed against his ear and gave him the happiest little feeling in his chest, and without restraint he found himself hugging the other tighter.

Rin grinned and pulled back slowly, "Let's get some breakfast."

Breakfast? He didn't eat breakfast. Nonetheless, Kau jumped off the bed and waited for the other to be able to do the same. There was a squeaky sound when he walked; he'd been using something else for support.

He followed him for a few steps and then sat down; cold air came out suddenly and he noted the scent of the open fridge that was predominantly empty.

"You want to share something, Kau? I'm not very hungry." Kau felt him smiling a bit but he didn't nod or anything, just waited patiently. "Damn medicine," he heard Rin curse frequently under his breath as he tossed little containers along the counter. "Come on," Rin brushed a finger lightly over the top of his head as he walked past. He'd led him over to the bag he'd slept on; it was covered in his scent, and the air still felt sticky to his skin.

Rin sat across from him and he jumped a bit when he felt Rin's hand take his, "If you're not careful you'll slip, you know?" He began rolling up both sleeves that had hung a bit too far down, wrapping themselves around his hands as he made his way along the floor.

Kau began to feel like a dog with flees; Master never would let him get such a thing but his wound was so itchy that he wanted to protest when Rin stopped him from touching the bandaging. "If you get it infected it'll be worse; if it itches it means it's healing so leave it alone."

He heard a small crunching sound, it was a little chilling, and then the other placed the tip of the spoon to his lips where he could taste some of the soft cream and open his mouth for it. Over the top was a faint granulated texture, very similar to the one from yesterday; this one seemed to be absorbed by the cream though, and he swallowed it effortlessly.

"It tastes good?" The other had a taste of it also, and then he heard the same crushing sound before he was given another scoop. He predicted that the sound was related to those strange-tasting granules in his food. They felt too soft to be rocks but he felt like the other was squashing rocks into his food.

The man gave him a few more scoops; these didn't have that rocky taste in them which made him feel better once he swallowed. Rin massaged his scalp lightly, "Wait here; I'll get another for you."

Kau sat, waiting patiently, and even if the other may have lost his leg, he left and came rather promptly, with the same clicking sounds of his support following him. This time he didn't seem to be taking any for himself; feeding Kau scoop after scoop of the creamy strawberry sweet substance, no rocks on the top.

Just as he cleaned the corner of his mouth Kau wiped the hair off his forehead, grinning cheerfully.

He was fed, he felt warm, he was sheltered, all that and if he didn't pay attention to the itchiness he got everything a simply dog would ever want and need.

He heard a clicking sound from the front door, and felt confident enough to go running through the new environment once he recognized the familiar scent from the night before. He gripped onto the material on his thighs and gathered it into his hands tightly until he could grab onto his jacket, pulling Akira down onto his knees on the ground with a loud groan.

"What the hell are you doing?" The voice didn't sound too threatening; otherwise Kau knew to scramble back off. Instead it was almost warm and inviting, albeit confused, so he simply shuffled up further and embraced him lightly. "Rin! What have you fed him? He's hyper!"

"A yoghurt; I had to give him his medicine with something."

Kau felt Akira patting his back lightly, willing him off; he obeyed and slid down, but sat back on the ground in the hallway quietly.

"Yes, well, let's cut back on the sugar, shall we?" He petted Kau, and said it in a tone that he must have assumed that he wouldn't understand. Kau didn't seem to mind very much; he was used to it by now.

"Where've you been anyway?"

"Shopping." He heard a large plastic bag being picked up off the floor, and then a second one, and then a third one. "For now we've got one bed to put up with but it doesn't mean we've got to share pillows and blankets all the time."

"You didn't have to buy so much."

"Well if Kau's going to stay then he's going to need something too."

"Winter's coming."

"That too." Akira's large hand soon returned to his face, "Go and lie down, Kau."

Lie down? Where? Couldn't he be more specific?

Then he remembered; Rin hadn't moved yet.

He scuttled over quickly, dropping himself onto the sleeping bag and placing his head in Rin's lap. It didn't feel strange that a leg was absent far above the knee, and when he didn't hear any groans or anything he was thankful that the position he'd thrown them into wasn't painful.

He felt more and more sleepy after he lay down like that, especially when the man he rested against began massaging his scalp. Was it the little rocks that did it?

There was a knock on the front door not too long after that. He felt a little excited but felt too weak to sit up to greet whoever was there.

"How is everything here?"

The man's deep voice was familiar. He'd heard it in Master's mansion before. This man tended to upset him. Heavy footsteps signified the ma's entrance into the bedroom and with a groan he knelt down not too far away. Kau felt his own muscles stiffening.

"We're fine."

"No thanks to you, old man." Akira chided.

The new man put a hand to Kau's face. Kau tried to pull his head away. The man smelt so much like cigarettes that he couldn't help the abrupt and singular cough that erupted from his throat suddenly.

"You even make him sick with the smell, old man." Rin laughed.

Kau squirmed away a bit as a large unfamiliar hand touched him.

"He's not going to hurt you, Kau." Rin tried to hold him lightly in place, hands on his forearms which Kau had been trying to hold to his stomach.

Akira released a low growl and Kau knew he was pushing his luck by being defensive. He began to try to relax, dropping his arms limp like a ragdoll and letting Rin hold onto him.

He felt the edges of his skin sticking to the bandage just as the older man's cold fingers pried off the material lightly. "Has he been scratching it?" He felt his face burning red; he had been and he still wanted to keep doing it.

"A little; earlier." The reply from behind him came.

"Don't let him pick at it."

"He can't help it if it hurts, old man." Rin defended him in a cold tone.

"If you see him scratching it tell him to stop and if you can give him something for the pain it'll help."

"You can't sort everything with a painkiller."

"I'm not saying it can; I'm saying it'll help."

"We'll give him a painkiller later then." Akira got in between the two's sudden bickering.

"What about you, Rin? Are you okay?"

"Of course, old man."

Kau wondered if the other could also sense that the man behind him was lying; there was a faint underlying crack of emotion in his defiant tone of voice.

"Your eyes are really red."

"It's part of my face, what can I do about that?"

"Were you feeling sick last night?"

"No." Rin snapped back.

"It looks like it might be the affect of your medicine. Akira, keep an eye on him, alright? If it's his medicine…"

"It's not the medicine, old man!"

"Don't work yourself up, Rin." Akira sighed.

Kau felt the body around him tensing up; Rin's hands on him were no longer gentle and caressing him but they grew stiff and turned into fists. He rolled over and began to climb up Rin's small body, embracing him tightly. Had Master known that he allowed this body to comfort someone else other than him he would be severely punished but he allowed the man to get upset or angry again it meant that he did not care about him.

He buried his face in his neck, breathing heavily and pressing his lips to it. He wanted to tell him not to listen to them, to just block them out and not let what they say bother him but he couldn't! Not in a way he could really understand, and not in a way he would show everyone.

"Looks like he's taken a liking to you."

"Yeah." Rin embraced him back lightly.

Kau smiled cheerfully; he knew when he had done something good.

"You know what symptoms you're supposed to look out for, Rin; so make sure that if you've got any you tell Akira immediately so he can take you to the hospital."

"I know, old man."

The old man sighed heavily, "I almost feel sorry for you, Akira." He commented. "You're really going to have your hands full; but give me a call if you need help."

Kau felt the feelings in his chest purely reflecting Rin's; his body language alone had suddenly helped to transfer all the blond's feelings into his body. He could feel that Rin just wanted to run away at this point; his fingers interlaced, his body tensed, his breath caught in throat and he held Kau to him as the only thing keeping him seated in his place.

Akira walked the older man to the door; they both eventually stepped out, closing the door behind them.

"I'll bet they're talking about me." Rin commented quietly against his neck.

Kau hung his head lower; it was true. They commented about Rin's health, about the red in his eyes, the dark circles beneath them and the feigned smile on his face.

"You can hear them, right? It's true?" He squeezed him tightly and Rin rubbed his back. "I've got to get used to it."

Kau wished he could tell him otherwise but he wasn't wrong; he would have to get used to having snide little remarks being made. People around the mansion always said these things about him, even if it meant a harsh reprimanding from Master.

"Why don't you try to sleep, Kau?"

_Don't want to__! _Was the reply he could imagine himself snapping at that moment…had it actually been possible to snap. Even if he didn't want to, it was becoming painfully difficult to remain awake. Perhaps it was the little rocks. He felt himself falling into a darkness that was darker than the one he was constantly in; lulled to sleep by the gentle ministrations performed on his back through the light material.

"Don't you think you've grown a little too attached to him?"

"What do you mean?" Rin stood beside Akira in the kitchen, resting against the counters as he watched him cook.

"Don't get too attached to him."

"What are you saying?"

"You don't know what could happen to him."

Rin shoved him, "Assuming he's going to just die because he's like that; you're terrible."

"I didn't mean it like that, but anything can happen."

"I wonder if he's going to be okay here, Akira; he's really…stuck in one place."

"I don't have a mansion like Arbitro does but hopefully he'll be alright."

"Well I'd like to think we at least treat him better."

"I'm sure we do."

"I can't help but be curious about why he was running around on his own."

"Don't know, don't care; as long as he didn't end up on the evening news we're fine."

"That's a good point."

"So about earlier…"

Rin tensed a little but showed Akira he was listening clearly, "What happened earlier?"

Akira turned down the heat on the food, resting against the counter, "You got really defensive when the old man called you out on your red eyes."

"Ahh, that." Rin groaned. "I'm just fed up of everyone thinking these things! The second the nurses saw me acting differently then they think something's wrong and start asking all these questions. I want to leave that there."

Akira scoffed. "You're so stubborn."

"Stubborn?"

"Of course you're stubborn. You think after that whole confession in Toshima I'll believe you're really fine just because you say you are?"

"That's…"

"Not fair, right?" Akira interrupted. He put a hand on his head, playing with the light strands of hair, "If you tried being more honest maybe I'd be more inclined to believe you."

"I'm…"

"Honestly."

Rin opened his mouth to speak but fell short. Akira smiled and turned back to chopping things along the board. Kind Akira knew just when to look away from him. "My leg really hurt this morning…and through the night, and I couldn't get up much this morning."

Akira continued to nod his head, listening quietly as Rin went on for about fifteen minutes; describing the pain he had felt in detail, talking about how he was doing after and how taking care of Kau took his mind off it for a few minutes. Uncontrollably, while the blond was looking away, Akira extended his arms around his waist lightly and gently embraced him from behind.

"Akira…" He breathed out lightly.

"After all the things you've survived all on your own…don't think that this is something you won't be able to survive."

"It's…"

"But not leaning on anyone is the worst thing you can do, and you know that."

Rin pouted, then arched his neck to look back, "Don't think you can use the word 'lean' just because I'm missing a leg." He whispered it out, but there was a real essence of teasing, trying to hide his shame.

The two laughed over it and let the seriousness of the past half hour fade away slowly. In the meantime Rin made jokes about Akira's cooking and the way the soup and noodles were looking. "Can you cook better?" Akira constantly countered with, only to be met by quiet laughter which continued once Kau scuttled through the hallway and to the bathroom.

"Do you trust him to go to the bathroom alone?" Rin asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Why not?"

"Well he's blind and his balance isn't all that good."

Akira's eyes widened a bit and he looked to the door, "I don't think I want to go in there and find out."

Soon enough he staggered back out of the bathroom and sat on the floor not far from them, waiting patiently with his head directed at them. "You think he knows to flush the toilet and wash his hands after?" Rin asked, to which he got a sudden and firm nod.

"Seems like Arbitro sent him to puppy lessons before he let him into the mansion; I'm sure he wouldn't go jumping on people and furniture there."

"Which is a good thing for you."

"Yeah; it's great that he's so good," Akira reached over to ruffle Kau's hair, "if not he may have been out of here long ago."

"That's so mean, Akira." Kau seemed to agree with him as he became pouty but Rin quickly sat down beside him and threw an arm over his shoulders. "He's still really warm."

"He does look flushed."

"I'm starting to wonder if this heat is just a part of him; it's really not going down."

"Motomi said it doesn't look like has an infection but maybe its his immune system in overdrive. It's not his sort of environment here."

"Can I feed him tonight?"

Akira looked back from pouring the soup into bowls, "You sure you want to? You should eat first."

"I'll manage a little longer." He took Kau's food from Akira, different to their own as his had the crushed medication sprinkled along the top. Kau seemed to smell the food and understood the atmosphere, shuffling a little closer. "You're hungry, huh?" Rin chuckled and began to feed him promptly. "Seems like he likes it, Akira; I guess your cooking isn't all that bad for a dog."

"If it's good enough for a dog it's good enough for you and me, isn't it?"

"I'd hope so when the dog was originally human." Rin massaged his scalp lightly, putting the bowl on the ground behind him once he was finished. "Feeling better, Kau?" The dog in question gave a meek little nod and rested back against the wall, clutching his legs to his body and waiting to be ordered to do something else.

After dinner Rin went to monitor Kau in the bath; the dog did well on his own when he was given the chance, and his fever was no longer high enough to inhibit him from helping out where he could. In the meantime Akira changed the sheets on the bed more suitable to the recent cold weather; he had yet to do so since he had returned from Toshima and had little reason to do so until now. After that he put together a bed for Kau, bulking up on the blankets he gave him, and an extra cushion even though he knew that Kau would probably just curl up on himself and not care for it.

That night he felt that at the very least they were all a bit warmer, and in Kau's case, a bit more comfortable. In the night he would wake up and feel a little bad for him having to sleep on the floor like that, but he knew that even if he could fit Kau into the bed he knew he would just curl up on himself, or even possibly fall out if he dared leave him near the edge. He'll have to sort something out.

When he opened his eyes again, the room in pitch darkness due to the late hour, he rolled over to check on Rin; he seemed fine, cuddling a pillow close to himself and burying his face into it. He rolled onto the other side, squinting in the darkness for Kau.

He wasn't there.

He jumped up in bed but hurried out quick enough to hopefully not wake Rin. He looked around the room, checked the kitchen and the bathroom and found nothing and no one.

He ran out of the apartment, and found Kau sitting on the ground with his face pressed lightly against the metal bars of the railings. An instant sigh of relief left his lips. "Kau…" He crouched down and put a hand to his face, startling him, "What are you doing out here?" Intense heat radiated into his hand; the metal bars must've been a great contrast.

"Tamaaaaaa!"

A loud cold and shrilling voice filled the air. A very familiar shrilling voice.

Kau was neither cheerful nor scared at the sound, only a bit interested in the direction it came from. Below.

"Kau, get inside."

By the look on his face, he refused.

"Akira, what's happened?"

"There you are, Tama!"

Akira jerked Kau up into his arms and transferred him over to Rin's care, "Get him inside."

"But Akira…"

"Just stay inside, alright?" He ran down the stairs to confront Gunji before he could approach them, potentially waking up the whole block of apartments. "You're a long way away from Toshima."

"I've seen maps on the way here, kitty."

That may be so, but Akira wondered about Gunji's potential to actually read them. "What do you want?" He asked instead of his more tempting taunt.

"What did you do with Tama?"

"He's sick; he's inside."

Gunji pulled a sharp grin onto his features, "I'm here to take him."

"Why? So you can take him back to Arbitro?"

Gunji released his loud maniacal laughter and surprised Akira with the sudden outburst. "Hey, kitty-chan, don't tell Tama this but papa is under a rock somewhere in Toshima…"

Arbitro dead? That was almost too sweet of a thought but it was impossible to think that everything in Toshima wouldn't have happened without him anyway.

"So what are you going to do with him if not take him to Arbitro?"

"I convinced jijii to let him stay with us!"

Akira grit his teeth together and balled his hands into fists; he wasn't sure he could trust such rough animals with delicate Kau.

"No offense but I don't really trust you."

Gunji leaned in, still grinning; Akira began to wonder how anyone could get so happy they grin like that. "Do you think I'll hurt Tama?"

"If you keep waving those things around so casually you just might." Akira indicated to the thick sharp claws that had swung up not too far from him, just as Gunji put his hand to the back of his head to tug down his red hood.

"I'm not going to hurt Tama, kitty-chan!" Gunji shouted enthusiastically, throwing an arm over Akira's shoulders. What were they? Buddies now? Hadn't this crazy man tried to kill him before? "I like Tama! Tama's cute!"

"Even so…"

"If I have to fight you for him…"

"I like him, but not enough to fight you for him here." Even if it was a dump, he liked where he lived, and he didn't want to have to move, or die for that matter. "He's happy where he is now…"

"He can be just as happy with me too!"

"You can come up and see him if you promise to put those things down."

"I don't need to promise anything, kitty-chan." Before Akira could say or do anything else he ran up the stairs and entered the apartment.

Akira followed him in and was surprised that the big man actually made an attempt at being quiet as he approached the two figures on the ground in the bedroom.

"Hey, Tama," Gunji lowered his voice to an almost appropriate level, kneeling down and reaching out to touch Kau gently, claws on the floor. "Have they been taking care of you?" Kau pressed his hot cheek into Gunji's cooler hand but without a choice he otherwise remained still and quiet. "He's all red in the face!" Gunji snapped over his shoulder.

"I told you; he was sick when he got here. We've been taking care of him."

"Is it true, Tama?"

Kau buried his face into Rin's leg, releasing a soft mewling sound of discomfort.

"We feed him, we bathe him, we give him some medicine every few hours; we're taking good care of him."

Akira was constantly given Gunji's back but the killer continued to pet Kau very lightly and massage his scalp and Kau didn't seem bothered. Rin seemed shocked though.

"Sleep, Tama, sleep." He recited softly. He then stood; back to the height of the killer he really was. He turned around and by the blond hair in his face Akira was unable to calculate his expression. Almost blindly he thus walked out of the apartment.

Once Gunji spun around Akira found the tight hands on the collar of his t-shirt and his back pressed firmly against the wall with sharp blades just inches from his neck. "Don't you dare hurt him."

"I told you...we wouldn't."

Just when it was getting hard to breathe, or even to speak without his throat touching the pointed edges, Gunji let go of him and pulled away completely.

By looking at his slumped form Akira dared to think that maybe...Gunji was upset.

"If you really want to take him I'm not going to stop you; it looks like you really care about him."

"Tama is comfortable here."

"He is but..."

"I'll come and see him." Gunji said, determined but a little shaky.

Akira tilted his head with thought; he really didn't want to have blades put to his throat every visit.

"If you..." Gunji snapped his head at him just as Akira spoke. "If you don't gather too much attention, or try to kill us, you can come and see him whenever..."

He wasn't all that comfortable with it but he could learn to live with it at least. He had been so determined to leave everything back in Toshima just where it was that it was only tonight that he realized the extent of the impossibility of that. He figured that he might as well make friends rather than enemies in case things for worse. Besides, outside Toshima Gunji almost looked...decent.

"I'll come back to see him soon." Gunji said firmly.

The man didn't seem like he wanted to be spoken to in that moment so Akira just let him go quietly.

When he returned to the bedroom he helped Rin get Kau off him, tucking him back in under the sheets.

"It's like a different person!" Rin exclaimed to him and Akira was inclined to agree with him.

"Get back into bed."

"I don't think I can sleep after that."

"Try." Akira all but snatched the crutches from Rin, leaving him no choice but to fall or get into bed.

"Hey, Akira," just when he thought he had fallen asleep Rin spoke up again, "he really looked like he missed him. What happened?"

"Seems like Arbitro..." The gesture Akira made said it just in case Kau was listening. "So they got out of Toshima and Kau ran off or something."

"You think he was looking for Arbitro?"

"It doesn't matter what I think; he's not going to find him so we've got to take care of him."

"Maybe he'll want to go with Gunji once he feels better..."

"Will you be okay with that?"

"After everything he's been through Kau deserves to be happy too, right?"

"Of course."

_Would you really do that, Rin? Give up your own happiness again for someone else's? _

Rin glanced over, staring at Akira with his usual wide-eyed expression, "What?"

Akira sighed softly, and leaned in; placing a light kiss to the corner of his mouth.

Rin burned red promptly, glancing at the ceiling, "What the hell was that for?"

"There's just…something unbelievably attractive about the way you think."

Rin huffed a bit, still flustered with embarrassment. "Go to sleep." He rolled over quickly, giving Akira his back and burying his hot face in a pillow.

At this point, even Rin believed it was difficult to keep all of Toshima behind.

**A/N: ****Ahhh! It's over! Finally~ Haha! I really enjoyed writing it but… I'm happy it's done. **

**So if you read this far, please leave a review! I'd really appreciate it! **


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